While it would be fantastic if it only took one contact with a prospect to make a sale or get a new client, the reality is that it often takes cultivation—it takes several chats, contacts, or attempts at outreach before the average prospective individual will come on board as a client or customer, and several more “touches” in order to keep them. One of the very common early responses from a prospect is that they will request “more information.” You might be wondering whether or not they are trying to just blow you off and how you can turn a request for more information into a prime marketing opportunity.
A request for more information may, in fact, be a way of blowing you off, but it could also be a genuine request for more info. If you have marketing materials you can share them, but here are some other ideas: ask the prospect for his or her e-mail address so that you can e-mail the information; this way you will have the e-mail address so that you can follow up. If you have an e-mail newsletter, ask if you can put them on the list to receive it so that they can learn more about what you have to offer. You can also do this with paper marketing, ask for their address so that you can send them an information packet. Then you will have their contact information for follow up.
You can also try making an appointment to sit down and talk about things: “I will e-mail you some information and a link to our web site, then I will call you in a week or so to see if you have any questions” or “maybe you’d like to meet for coffee sometime in the next month and I can tell you more about what I do and answer any questions.”
You can see how a request for more information can be taken as an invitation by you to share more about what you do. Just be sure to use your active listening skills and try to match your approach with what the prospective customer or client seems to be asking for.